of moxa, either to provide mild radiant beat or to administer a
　　　　  light burn. This last technique mirrors that used in Korea to
　　　　  administer a light burn on the arm to laypeople who receive the
　　　　  Fanwang jing precepts (Korean yonbi).(33)
　　　　  Why use moxa for ritual burning? Why not simply use incense (xiang),
　　　　  which is what is specified in the Shouleng'yan jing? The answer
　　　　  seems to be that the intention is not to cause pain, simply to leave
　　　　  a visible scar. Moxibustion practitioners all claim that the pain of
　　　　  moxibustion is not an unpleasant one but instead produces a deep
　　　　  glowing sensation (chang kuai, kuai gan).(34) Ordained Chinese monks
　　　　  and nuns whom I questioned about their experiences at ordination
　　　　  agreed that the sensation was "not unpleasant." Moreover, if we
　　　　  think back to the text, the presence of the term ai would have
　　　　  immediately looked suspect in a text of supposedly Indian origin, as
　　　　  the substance was not known or used there. As we shall see, incense
　　　　  was (and still is) used to burn off fingers in their entirety.
　　　　  Moxibustion points largely mirrored those used in acupuncture, and
　　　　  just as with acupuncture, there were loci on the body where use of
　　　　  burning moxa was contraindicated. There are three moxibustion points
　　　　  on the head above the hairline that correspond to the three points
　　　　  commonly used in ordination burning. These are tou hui in the center
　　　　  and two points named zheng guang flanking it.(35) I have, as yet,
　　　　  not found these particular terms attested in Chinese Buddhist texts,
　　　　  which speak only of shao ding (burning the crown of the head).
　　　　  Again, such terminology would look more orthodox by analogy with the
　　　　  Tantric rite of consecration (abhiseka, Chinese guanding) during
　　　　  which the crown of the head is anointed, whereas the presence of
　　　　  specifically Chinese medical terminology in a text of supposedly
　　　　  Indian origin would have immediately looked suspect.
　　　　  As with some other Chinese inventions, moxibustion is not quite as
　　　　  ancient as is sometimes claimed. The oldest extant works on
　　　　  moxibustion date from between the third and fifth centuries C.E.,
　　　　  well before the Shouleng'yan jing speaks of burning incense on the
　　　　  body in the early eighth.(36) Certainly moxibustion was widely
　　　　  practiced during the Tang, and works were produced with diagrams of
　　　　  moxibustion points on the body.(37) At the time of the composition
　　　　  of the text, the idea of a fragrant substance being burned on the
　　　　  body was not only known, it was widely practiced and had